For all the Augustus Gloops in the world, this article is not for you. But for those who eat little bits of chocolate every day in moderation, there is news to celebrate. A new study from the University of California (UC) San Diego has found that adults who regularly eat chocolate are thinner than those who don't. However, one must make the distinction between bits of chocolate and munching on candy bars all day. High consumption of chocolate-rich foods (i.e. cake, cookies, chocolate bars) will inevitably lead to obesity and related health effects. Dark chocolate was found to be the best.

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The study was conducted by Beatrice Golomb, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Medicine at UC San Diego along with her colleagues. She found that the assumption that chocolate only made people fat was wrong. Her team scientifically demonstrated that regular, adult, moderate consumers were skinnier. Their results have been published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

They found that regular chocolate consumption was calorie-neutral. The metabolic benefits of eating modest quantities lead to reduced fat deposition per calorie. This offsets the added calories from regular consumption of energy-rich chocolate.

The researchers examined a test group of 1,000 adult men and women in the San Diego area. Dietary information was obtained along with general health info such as height, weight, and any other pre-dispositions.

After the many factors that would affect overall weight were accounted for, the researches came to a startling conclusion. The chocolate-eaters had the lower body mass index. The effect of chocolate was not huge, but was significant in that it could not be explained by chance.

They found that the chocolate-eaters actually consumed more overall calories in a given day, and did not exercise any more than the non-chocolate-eates.

"Our findings appear to add to a body of information suggesting that the composition of calories, not just the number of them, matters for determining their ultimate impact on weight," said Golomb. "In the case of chocolate, this is good news —both for those who have a regular chocolate habit, and those who may wish to start one."